ABOUT ENKI

We established ENKI Brewing on the idea that remarkable beer, shared with others, leads to outstanding friendships. Remarkable beer requires remarkable people to brew it, sell it and drink it. We do all three!

Since 2013 we’ve been brewing 20 barrel batches of beer and delivering it to local bars, restaurants and now, liquor stores. Starting with three 20 barrel fermenters, we have since tripled our capacity to meet the growing demand for our beers. We began in a 100 year-old creamery building in Victoria, MN, just a half-hour drive from Minneapolis. After three hectic, yet exciting years, we decided it was time to pack up and move down the street to a larger facility. The new destination brewery has an inviting taproom that overlooks our expansive brewing operations, where on any given day, you can shout words of encouragement to our brewer, Jason...or toss him some peanuts.

Our flagship beers are Tailfeather IPA and CACAO Porter, available in kegs and bottles. We also produce a wide variety of year-round and seasonal beers that have become hugely popular in the taproom and local establishments—including the hometown favorite, Victoria’s Gold Cream Ale; the summertime party in a glass, Hootenanny Hefeweizen; and a winter warming rummy sensation, Warming Hut Brown Ale.

We believe that the world needs to be a friendlier place. Our mission is to help make it so. We ask for you to help by enjoying ENKI beers with new and old friends alike.

Enki Brewing Beginnings

ENKI’s co-founders, Dan Norton and John Hayes, are long-time friends, running partners, and drinking buddies. In 1981 the two worked together in Nike’s research and development facility in Exeter, New Hampshire. Dan created new shoe concepts and John tested those concepts in the exercise physiology lab—working together in quest of creating something better. After work, the two trained together and raced together, setting 10K personal bests in the same race. And, after most runs, the two shared their perspectives, dreams, and problems over beers. Not satisfied with ordinary domestic lagers, Dan and John sought to experience better beers. With very few craft beers (in fact there were none in New England) the two found themselves exploring imported beers from England, Ireland and Germany. Thirsting for more adventure, Dan, the tinkerer of the two, started making his own beers, while John, like he did in the exercise lab, found a natural role in testing Dan’s creations.

Fast forward to 2012, Dan and John, remained steadfast friends who continued to share an appreciation for new and different beers and an aspiration to make things better. Making better shoes wasn’t enough. It was time to make the world a better place, and beer would be their instrument for doing it. Finding an old creamery building in Victoria, Minnesota, they fashioned a brewery and taproom setting that would be fitting for making really good beer and also a relaxing space for visiting friends.

Our philosophy is that everything is better when we share it together. ENKI beer is made to be shared with friends and new acquaintances.

Oh, by the way, Dan’s shoe designs made their way onto the feet of over 40 Olympians and world record holders. Proving the point—we are all Better Together—and together our efforts make the world better—and even faster, stronger, higher, and longer.

The Story of ENKI

7000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, ENKI, the Sumerian god of flowing water, brought fresh waters down the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the Fertile Crescent, prompting the growth of nutritious grains—from spelt, to farro, teff, kamut, chia and quinoa. It was there that people would congregate forming the beginning of civilization. They quickly found that grains and water, along with the mystical powers in the air, spontaneously produced a delicious and invigorating beverage—that we know as beer. Ever since, beer has been the sustenance of life and the spirit of celebration.

His work complete in Mesopotamia, ENKI left for new adventures. Lured by thousands of lakes, the Sumerian god of water, found himself drawn to Minnesota, where he has settled in the small village of Victoria. Today, he inspires the members of his namesake, ENKI Brewing, to produce finely crafted beers and to continue the celebrations he started 7000 years ago.